12 July 2023 23:08 – Updated 12 July 2023 23:08
One year into the construction work, the Norwegian Armed Forces put their foot down for the radar at Ringerike, which was to become the first of NATO’s new eyes in the north.
New tests from the Norwegian Defense Research Institute (FFI) show that a radar at Gyrihaugen will cause too much interference for other facilities in the area.
– Many safety and risk assessments have been carried out along the way. When new extensive tests now show that Gyrihaugen cannot be used for the location of the radar, the Norwegian Armed Forces must take the consequences and stop construction, says Per Anders Bakke, flag commander and head of the investment department in the Defense Staff. in a statement.
Construction of the radar began in June last year, and the opening was planned for 2025. A two-kilometer-long road has been built, and blasting has been done on the summit, according to NRK.
Endangered forest species
Terribly sad and shocking, comments Gjermund Andersen in the Norwegian Nature Conservation Association to the channel.
– A huge intervention in nature which should have been avoided if the Defense Forces had done their job. Here are some of the most endangered species we have in Norwegian forests, he says.
Previous analyzes and tests showed that it would not affect other military and civil infrastructure in the area. But in a more recent test where a real radar is also simulated, it has been shown that the location cannot be used, the defense informs Technical Weekly (TU).
– It is very regrettable that this is clarified late in the process, and something we would have liked to have been clarified earlier so that we avoided the natural interventions, says press officer in the Norwegian Defense Forces, Vegard Norstad Finberg, to Aftenposten.
NATO’s eyes in the north
In 2019, it was decided to build five completely new radar systems, and upgrade three existing ones, by 2030. Forsvarsbygg has referred to it as NATO’s eyes in the north. We are talking about Lockheed Martin radars of the TPY-4 type, and the total price for all the facilities is budgeted at NOK eight billion.
Gyrihaugen, located in Oslomarka, about a mile from Hønefoss, was the first to be completed.
Forsvarsbygg informs TU that contracts worth approximately NOK 70 million have been entered into at the Gyrihaugen location. The Norwegian Defense Forces must now find a new place to build it, as well as create a plan for how the natural encroachments can be reversed as best as possible.
2023-07-12 21:08:15
#Norwegian #Defense #Forces #stopping #radar #building #road #plateau #Oslomarka
